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| The open air World War II Memorial in Washington, DC |
I received today an "annual letter" put out by one of my relatives at this time of the year.
Written following the best form of "Christmas Letters," she never refers to it as a Christmas letter because she either doesn't believe in Christ or fears to offend those of her friends who don't believe.
Yet she finds some kind of comfort in sharing the details of her life with her family and friends during this season. It's similar to those weird stories I have seen lately about "Atheist Churches." Places for those people who have no faith or belief in God to gather and tell feel good stories to one another about all their accomplishments. From what I have read, these "churches" are not places of worship, but places nonetheless where folk of like mind and heart can gather to share in fellowship and food, if nothing else. Although, it probably could be debated as to whether they do worship themselves or the human mind, but I digress. That is a different story.
I have been stewing about my cousin's "annual letter" because of the following paragraph:
"Worse thing of the year? Worthless, meaningless, and idiotic government closure. Since we care for animals we, of course, worked while other government employees got paid to stay home. This is idiotic and it should be against the law for elected officials to close the government. It’s their job to make it run. I have absolutely no acceptance for this and all the negative ramifications it causes."
At first, I thought she was only miffed because she has what is an apparently "essential" government job and had to actually work during the brief government shutdown this past fall. That may very well be part of her problem with the shutdown. Her fellow government cronies got to stay home and eventually collected pay for the forced time off, but she had to work.
As I pondered it more and more...ok, worried it like a dog worries a bone, is a more apt description...I started to think I should respond to her letter and let her know what the "shutdown" looked like to someone who doesn't live in the Beltway surrounding DC. I thought about responding with snark as in the following:
"I'm
not sure if you are angry because you didn't get to spend the shutdown sitting at home while getting paid, or because of the shutdown itself. My own thoughts on
the issue run almost diametrically opposed to yours, but that should be
no surprise to you. The question that comes immediately to mind is that
if these personnel are "non-essential" then why do they have
(government) jobs at all? No one seems to be able to answer that
question.
My
second thought is (as you are probably aware), the problem is
that the Senate
hasn't passed a budget in over three years. That's why we have to have
continuing resolutions in order to fund the government....because the Senate
has steadfastly refused, under the leadership of Harry Reid, to even
bring a budget to the floor for discussion or negotiation, much less a
vote."
Then I let it rest for awhile, but it keeps bugging me. Should I perhaps make light of it, by telling her how comical it was to hear her grousing about all the supposedly negative ramifications to this shutdown when the DC ruling elite had to barricade open-air memorials and parking lots in order to inconvenience tourists enough that they might share the outrage? Because, quite frankly, the impact was minimal in my neck of the woods. Granted, the long arm of the federal government did attempt to make an impact on ordinary citizens, but most of us just went about our business, working around the inconveniences. Or, as the World War II vets so powerfully showed us, pushed right through the inconveniences (barricades) and visited the "open 24/7 year-round" Memorial dedicated to them.
The thing is, I want to rattle her cage a little bit...let her know that just because she breathes the air in Liberal La La Land and thinks the sun rises and sets with huge centralized government, there are a lot of folks who happen to think that those "non-essential bureaucrats" should maybe look for work in the private sector. Or that at least having the elected officials shut down the government leaves us with an option...to vote them out or attempt to vote them out, if we don't like their decisions. We have no such recourse with unelected bureaucrats, whom we apparently have to pay even if they don't work and whom we may not even be able to fire. Ever. That is much more troublesome to me than elected officials making a decision with which I may not agree.
In the course of all this mental ranting, I kept hearing that "still small voice" that is the voice of my Lord. He is telling me to let it go, to be charitable and generous in my response to her "annual letter." He is telling me I should focus on the rest of her letter...the parts about her life, the travels she's undertaken this past year and the loved ones she's lost (pets, no people) and her plans for the future.
Maybe that's why I have been stewing about it, worrying it like a dog bone. Because my first inclination is not to be charitable and generous, but to start an argument or issue a snarky response. He's asking me to be bigger and better than my pitiful self and also to be obedient to His will. It's hard because I want her to know I do not agree with her, but I also want to show her the best of what it means to be a Catholic Christian, especially at this time of year, when we are making preparations in our hearts for His Coming. I want her to feel the "peace that passes all understanding," when/if she comes to know the Lord. And I want her to trust in Jesus Christ and not the federal government.
That probably won't happen if I respond to her letter as I want to respond and not as God is calling me to respond.
So, I am choosing to be obedient to God's will. I will forbear and be charitable and generous when I respond to her "annual letter"... with my greetings via a Christmas card portraying the Nativity. :-)
I am already feeling joyful about evangelizing the way God wants me to do it.
"Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more." ~ Psalm 72:7 (The Word Among Us, Mass readings for 12-3-2013)
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